For years, commercial and retail merchandisers have attempted to visually enhance the surroundings of their product offerings through the use of attractive displays. For example, retail stores often set up displays to promote a particular product line or to promote sales for a particular season or holiday. For a fall clothing line, a store might set up a display of cornstalks, pumpkins, gourds, and bales of hay or a stack of leaves with a rake. To promote a line of swimwear, a display of sand, beach umbrellas and beachballs may be presented. To promote high quality products, expensive marble facings may be used, or Greek or Roman columns constructed.
Attractive displays are effective tools in promoting the sale of products. These displays are frequently changed as new product lines and new seasons or holidays are promoted. Creating and maintaining appealing displays can be a very time-consuming, and expensive proposition. The appropriate props must be purchased and transported to the display site. In addition, removing and storing the displays presents further problems for the merchandiser in that certain items must be properly disposed of and storage space must be allocated for the display props.
Additionally, apart from conventional floor tiling or decorative rugs, the floor space has not been utilized to visually enhance the commercial or retail setting or display. Prior to the present invention there did not exist an effective way to enhance the decor utilizing the floor space.
For a number of years commercial photography labs have created large format photographic prints for use in advertising. For example, large format photographic prints have been placed in wall displays attached to the walls of airport hallways to advertise particular products and companies.
Also, large format ink prints have been used to make large scale posters. However, ink printing is very expensive and is usually only cost-efficient where very high volumes are involved. Furthermore, ink printing does not provide the high quality images which can be achieved through photography. As a result, photographic printing is far superior to ink printing where low volume and high quality products are desired.